10 thoughts on “This really shouldn’t be hard.”

I can’t fathom the sheer selfishness of the mindset that says, “You are troublesome to me, therefore I’m going to murder you.”

Perhaps the only thing more mind-boggling to me is the mindset that says, “I’m too disturbed by someone I could relate to committing murder of their dependent family member, so rather than condemning it, I’ll try to justify it for them and help them escape justice for their actions.”

I mean, to me, it’s simple: If you think you are going to kill someone, go to the local hospital and tell them you think that you are going to kill someone. That someone is better off in state custody than they are in your custody, if you are feeling murderous towards them.

See also: Why the meme of “I brought you into the world, I can take you out” was always terrifying to me as a child – because I knew that people actually do act on that, and I knew that my parents were among those who justify such actions. As an adult, I believe they meant it in hyperbole, but as a kid, I didn’t know that. Plus, it speaks to the whole cultural belief that kids are property not people and disabled kids even less people than able ones.

Yes, absolutely. It’s all in the first sentence: “If you are overwhelmed, don’t kill someone else.”

(Although I have to be honest. The word overwhelmed makes me think about the genetic component. Maybe we’re underestimating how often parents of autistic children are undiagnosed autistics themselves. Not as an excuse for murder, because I manage to be autistic and not kill anyone, but maybe as some sort of acknowledgment that a lot of us know how hard that can be. STILL NOT AN EXCUSE THOUGH. Need to capitalise that because I know it’s a hot button topic).

Hard to comment on that in a way that doesn’t risk revealing my meatspace identity and that wouldn’t put the meatspace life I’ve built at risk if my identity ever gets out, but short version: I know what it is to be that overwhelmed, and I still managed not to kill anyone. It was closer than I care to admit, but I managed to not kill people. To not try to kill people. Hell, to not even hurt people except in self-defense. Hence why I’m not questioning that it is possible to be that overwhelmed. I know it is. And I’m instead saying that even if you are, it’s still not an excuse.

This stuff hits close to home for reasons. I’d say more but public forum means meatspace identity might be revealed if I go into details.

*nods* I can completely understand that (even though you probably don’t need my validation at all). Maybe we as a society need to redefine what it means to defend yourself, because I think it’s that argument that’s being corrupted by the people who are defending this and other murders. And it hurts the people who have had genuine reason to defend themselves and still didn’t kill anyone.

I’m having an impossible time trying to understand how anybody could do this. Even intentionally harming another person is such an alien concept…

All life has value and you just don’t harm that which you value. Anger, fear, hatred: they all drive people to commit acts they would not normally countenance in the heat of the moment. But there are lines that should NEVER be crossed, actions for which there are NO excuses. There are always reasons, sure, but incidents like this do not happen overnight. There is a sequence of choices — the choice not to talk about your problems with somebody, ultimately the choice to murder — that leads to where we find ourselves in this case. And we are left to ponder why.